Effects of wind patterns and changing wind velocities on aeolian drift potential along the Lake Michigan shore

Yurk, Brian P.; Hansen, Edward C.

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2021.09.006

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Yet, determining wind energy as the primary driver stabilizing Lake Michigan's blowouts is difficult given the conflicting research results regionally and globally. Regionally, there is some evidence that wind energy may have declined as much as 40% along the eastern shoreline since 1960 (Yurk and Hansen, 2021), although there is also evidence that mean annual wind speed, drift potential, and other wind-influenced dune mobility indices, such as Lancaster's M (Lancaster and Helm, 2000), remained relatively unchanged over a similar period of time or declined slightly in the study area (McKeehan and Arbogast, 2021). Likewise, there is evidence that winds over various decadal time periods have decreased globally (Vautard et al, 2010; McVicar et al, 2012; Jackson et al, 2019a; Tian et al, 2019), increased over some oceans but decreased terrestrially (Torralba et al, 2017; Zeng et al, 2018), strengthened across Lake Superior to the north of our study area (Desai et al, 2009), and weakened across Minnesota to the northwest (Klink, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Any understanding of the stabilization response by Lake Michigan coastal dunes would need to acknowledge a complex process-response framework, especially in the absence of a singular strong process driver trending toward obvious stabilization responses. After all, there are other potential drivers at work in the region, including increased atmospheric concentration of CO 2 through anthropogenic means, anthropogenically driven atmospheric nitrogen deposition, land use changes, fire suppression, the cessation of logging, and the growth of invasive species, all of which are discussed in McKeehan and Arbogast (2021) and Yurk and Hansen (2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This phenomenon was also implied by Lovis et al (2012, p. 117), who noted a decreased sand supply in the regional coastal aeolian system over the last 500 years. Regional dune stabilization could also suggest that a new mesoscale climate regime has begun to evolve across the Great Lakes (Yurk and Hansen, 2021). Close observation of the trends and environments of Lake Michigan coastal dune systems could help us determine if this shift is underway.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The geography and progression of blowouts in the coastal dunes along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan since 1938

McKeehan

Arbogast

2023

Quat. res.

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Coastal dunes along Lake Michigan's eastern shoreline are a unique system comprising perhaps the largest complex of freshwater coastal dunes in the world. Here, we examine the blowouts in this region and determine how they have evolved since the 1930s. We conducted a spatiotemporal analysis of 435 blowouts by comparing repeat aerial images of the coast beginning in 1938. Using an unsupervised machine learning classification known as iso-clustering, we mapped blowout morphologies at three timestamps: 1938, 1986–1988, and 2018. We then compared the blowout geographies through a technique known as a spatial-temporal analysis of moving polygons (STAMP) model, which allowed us to analyze how each blowout changed in time and space. Results show blowouts have contracted ~37% in size since 1938, mostly at the expense of vegetation, with many fragmenting. These findings comport with other regional and global studies detailing a trend in coastal dune stabilization from vegetation and suggest that an increase in precipitation or other environment drivers could be responsible. Moreover, we detected no new blowouts since 1938 along the ~500 km shoreline or on any of the Lake Michigan islands. This suggests blowouts here are artifacts of premodern conditions, perhaps the result of prior stormier or drier eras.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The geography and progression of blowouts in the coastal dunes along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan since 1938

McKeehan

Arbogast

2023

Quat. res.

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“…Since the plant-pollinator network study conducted 2016 (Vitt et al, 2020) sand accretion and the associated loss of dune habitat has presented the biggest change to the plant-pollinator network. While dune habitats are known for dynamic changes, such as shifting topography due to sand accretion (Cowles, 1899), recent storm events exacerbated by climate change may be too intense for the historic dune plant community to persist (Maun, 1998;Miller, 2015;Yurk and Hansen, 2021). An experiment testing the effects of sand burial on C. pitcheri seedlings demonstrated that seedling mortality resulted from burial events that covered seedlings by 100% of their height, with consequences for the fitness of individuals that survived through less intense burial (Maun et al, 1996).…”

Section: Study System and Cirsium Pitcherimentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of the decline of a keystone plant species on a dune community plant-pollinator network

Sandacz,

Vitt,

Knight

et al. 2023

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Ecological communities are maintained through species interactions, and the resilience of species interactions is critical to the persistence of natural communities. Keystone species play outsized roles in maintaining species interaction networks, and within plant-pollinator communities are high priorities for conservation. The loss of a keystone plant from a plant-pollinator network is expected to cause changes to network structure and composition of pollinator species, with the potential to cause secondary losses of plants and pollinators. To understand how the unmanipulated decline of a keystone plant affects the structure and composition of its network, we studied the plant-pollinator interactions of a Lake Michigan dune plant community where the population of the keystone plant, Cirsium pitcheri, is in rapid decline. The network prior to C. pitcheri decline (2016) was compared to the network as C. pitcheri continued to decline (2021 and 2022) in response to habitat loss. We find evidence that the loss of C. pitcheri altered network structure such that the community may be more sensitive to perturbations. Furthermore, changes in the composition of pollinators were explained by species turnover to a greater extent than by interaction rewiring, including the loss of bumblebees. Short-term negative consequences based on the changes to network structure and composition might lead to long-term effects on the persistence of the dune community. Our study exemplifies that the decline of a keystone plant can have negative implications for conservation of a plant-pollinator community. Using an interaction network framework to assess plant-pollinator communities has potential to develop strategies for best conservation and restoration practices in habitats vulnerable to habitat loss and disturbance.

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“…Post-Holocene drivers of geomorphic change on the islands of northern Lake Michigan include fluctuations in Lake Michigan's water level [8], seasonal wind flow patterns [9], and annual lake ice extent [3]. While coastal geomorphic processes dominate today [5,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16], other relevant environmental drivers such as extreme weather events [17], fluctuations in soil moisture (e.g., due to drought), and freeze-thaw patterns [18] may be linked to contemporary climate change trends [8,19,20]. A detailed, quantitative, and spatially distributed understanding of geomorphology and contemporary terrain changes is needed to map hazards, anticipate anthropogenic impacts, and plan for the potential ramifications of climate change [21,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Geomorphic Change Using a Structure from Motion Elevation Model Created from Historical Aerial Imagery: A Case Study in Northern Lake Michigan, USA

DeWitt

Ashland

2023

IJGI

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South Manitou Island, part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern Lake Michigan, is a post-glacial lacustrine landscape with substantial geomorphic changes including landslides, shoreline and bluff retreat, and sand dune movement. These changes involve interrelated processes, and are influenced to different extents by lake level, climate change, and land use patterns, among other factors. The utility of DEM of Difference (DoD) and other terrain analyses were investigated as a means of understanding interrelated geomorphologic changes and processes across multiple decades and at multiple scales. A 1m DEM was developed from 1955 historical aerial imagery using Structure from Motion Multi-View Stereo (SfM-MVS) and compared to a 2016 lidar-based DEM to quantify change. Landslides, shoreline erosion, bluff retreat, and sand dune movement were investigated throughout South Manitou Island. While the DoD indicates net loss or gain, interpretation of change must take into consideration the SfM-MVS source of the historical DEM. In the case of landslides, where additional understanding may be gleaned through review of the timing of lake high- and lowstands together with DoD values. Landscape-scale findings quantified cumulative feedbacks between interrelated processes. These findings could be upscaled to assess changes across the entire park, informing future change investigations and land management decisions.

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Effects of wind patterns and changing wind velocities on aeolian drift potential along the Lake Michigan shore

Cited by 4 publications

References 36 publications

The geography and progression of blowouts in the coastal dunes along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan since 1938

The geography and progression of blowouts in the coastal dunes along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan since 1938

The effects of the decline of a keystone plant species on a dune community plant-pollinator network

Investigating Geomorphic Change Using a Structure from Motion Elevation Model Created from Historical Aerial Imagery: A Case Study in Northern Lake Michigan, USA

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